Senior officials of the OIC member states commenced a three-day meeting on Sunday to address the economic, political, cultural and bilateral issues that face the Muslim Ummah, which will be taken up for consideration by the 45th session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Dhaka on May 5-6, reports Saudi Gazette.

Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Md. Shahidul Haque who has been elected as the chair of the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) highlighted the sufferings of Muslim communities worldwide amid the changing times. He stressed the importance of sticking to Islamic values, which are also global values, to address the

challenges.

He hoped that under the chairmanship of Bangladesh, the OIC would be able to achieve the desired targets following the theme of the upcoming CFM session, "Islamic values for sustainable peace, solidarity

and development", which is very relevant to the current situation in the Muslim world.